100 Nostalgic Travel Photos that Remind Us We Will Travel Again

We never fully realize the value of something until it’s gone. And so it is with travel. More than a year since the initial spread of the virus, we are still nowhere close to ending this pandemic. And so we still find ourselves in some form of isolation, whether in voluntary quarantine or complete lockdown, unable to venture outdoors and explore the world as we’ve long done before.

But while the virus has curbed our ability to travel, it did little to quash our passion, our appetite, for adventure. If anything, it only served to inflame our wanderlust. Months of confinement have made us finally – and fully – realize just how much travel meant to our lives, and just how much we’ve been taking it for granted. Now, more than ever, our yearning to return to the places we’ve been before, and to set foot in places that thus far we’ve only seen in our dreams, has reached a fever pitch.

And so in anticipation of our eventual return to travel (once the pandemic ends), I’ve gathered 100 nostalgic travel photos that perfectly capture the extraordinary moments and haunting memories we miss most of all from our time on the road; and put them together in one stunning slideshow.

All the nostalgic travel photos exhibited here are courtesy of the beneficent photographers from Unsplash and Pexels. If you don’t know, Unsplash and Pexels are two amazing websites featuring millions of stunning photos donated by the world’s most generous photographers, all available for free for anyone to download and to do with as they please.

Normally, I would slightly modify on Lightroom the photos I download from Unsplash and Pexels before featuring them on my website, not because I find them lacking or displeasing, mind you, but simply to match the look and feel of my blog. But for these nostalgic travel photos, I deemed it best to post them unaltered, so you can fully appreciate and admire the original style and creativity of the photographers.

However, most of the photos, particularly those in portrait mode, and to a lesser extent, those in landscape, have been cropped to fit within the slides. And please note that all the credits are linked to the original photos (as I always do) and to the respective Unsplash or Pexels accounts of the photographers, so you can browse their fine photographic portfolios and discover more of their amazing works.

That being said, go ahead and enjoy these nostalgic travel photos, these powerful reminders that we will travel again soon. May these help you vent your frustrated wanderlust while in confinement, and keep you inspired until the moment we can finally – and once again – step beyond our doors and out into the wide world.

Hint: Click/tap the arrow on the right edge or swipe to the right to view the next picture, and click/tap the arrow on the left edge or swipe to the left to view to the previous picture. Alternatively, you can use the thumbnails below to navigate through the slideshow. If you can’t see the slideshow just beneath this, please reload this page.

These are only a few of the numerous nostalgic travel photos featured on Unsplash and Pexels, only the ones I could gather in a short amount of time. There are literally thousands, hundreds of thousands of travel photos there, all stunning, all awe-inspiring, all creative, all free, and more are being added each day. If only I had the time to peruse and admire every single one of them…

Anyway, if you want to view the photos featured here in their full size and resolution, and discover even more nostalgic travel photos, then you really should visit Unsplash and Pexels, and prepare to be astonished by the superb skill and sheer creativity of the world’s most generous photographers.

Featured Image by Justin Kauffman on Unsplash (modified)